China breaks up another 'terrorist gang' in Xinjiang

BEIJING - Chinese police have broken up a"terrorist gang" in the restive western region of Xinjiang, the local government said on Tuesday, arresting five people conspiring to launch attacks with explosives, days after a deadly blast in the capital, Urumqi.

China has announced a year-long "anti-terrorism" operation in Xinjiang, home to a large Muslim Uighur minority, as well as nationwide, following a series of bloody incidents that Beijing blames on Islamists and separatists from the region.

Monday's arrests in the Hotan area of southern Xinjiang, reported on the local government's news website, come after the authorities said they had caught more than 200 suspects in 23"terror and religious extremist groups" in May.

"The members of the criminal gang ... organised members to go to Urumqi and other areas to gather and buy raw materials for explosives and made explosive devices, and covered up a conspiracy to launch violent terrorist attacks," Tianshan said.

The suspects, who were Uighur judging by their names, also watched and disseminated "violent terrorist and religious extremist videos", it said.

China's leadership has been eager to reassure the public of stability in view of the recent deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing by five people on Thursday that killed 31 at a market in Urumqi.

Tianshan also reported tighter security at schools in Urumqi and at a train station targeted by a bombing late in April that killed a bystander and wounded 79. At least 180 people have been killed in attacks across China in the past year.

Exiles and rights groups say the real cause of the unrest is China's repressive policies that put curbs on Islam and the culture of Uighurs, Muslims who speak a Turkic language.

Uighurs have long complained of official discrimination in favour of the Han, China's majority ethnic group.

Beijing says separatist groups in Xinjiang are seeking to form their own state called East Turkestan, though experts dispute the influence and reach of the most prominent group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).